


A Learning Experience

by Arcadian



Category: Inside Out (2015)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-09
Updated: 2015-08-09
Packaged: 2018-04-13 19:01:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4533558
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arcadian/pseuds/Arcadian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sadness tried, she really did. She tried so hard to drive whenever she needed to. But sometimes, it just didn't work out like any of the emotions wanted.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Learning Experience

**Author's Note:**

> Apparently I just couldn't go to bed without writing one more little thing. It's short and a bit vague, but I hope you all enjoy it regardless.

Sadness tried, she really did. She tried so hard to drive whenever she needed to. But sometimes, it just didn't work out like any of the emotions wanted.

She didn't know _why_. There would just be times that she pushed the wrong thing, or she just did something the other emotions (sans Joy) didn't like, and she'd get quipped at about it.

"Ugh, don't you get what you're supposed to do?!"

"S-Sadness, now's not the time for that!"

"Get outta my way, _I'll_ handle it since you can't!"

One morning, after repeated instances of this, when Sadness got up, instead of going to the console with everyone else, she sat somewhere, far away from them. Inside the fading Circle of Sadness, which had been yet to be removed since it hadn't been in use since before the core memory incident.

She sat within the circle, and pulled her knees up to her chest, looking at the shelves of books. Was she really getting better? Or was she just messing everything up for the others again? Now that Joy wasn't shoving her away, it was Disgust and Anger getting upset with her, and even Fear freaking out from time to time.

Next thing she knew, however, was a glow from above, and she looked up to see Joy bending down slightly to meet her at eye level.

"Hey, Sadness! You know we don't need the circle anymore, right?"

Sadness just looked back down.

"Aw, come on, Sadness! What's wrong?" Joy enthusiastically poked her friend on the nose. "Today's a happy day, remember? Another great day at school! And we definitely need you--"

"All I do is mess things up," interjected Sadness quietly, still not looking up at her friend. "They keep yelling at me."

"Oh, Sadness..." Joy sat down on the floor in front of her. "I'm sorry they're doing that. But it's okay! You're part of the team, remember? You're just as important as the rest of them!"

"They don't seem to feel that way."

Joy shuffled over to sit beside her instead, trying to get her friend to look at her. "Hey hey, no need to be down in the dumps. Remember, you haven't driven a lot since before the core memory thing happened, remember? Mistakes happen! It'll be okay. Just because you make a few mistakes doesn't mean you're bad at it!"

It didn't take long for Joy to realize that her friend was crying. Which is pretty normal for her! But... she couldn't help worrying about her. So, she put an arm around her, and hugged her from the side.

And she let Sadness cry into her shoulder.

After it seemed like she was okay, Joy started to stand up, and leaned over so she could look at Sadness' face. "Hey, listen. How about this: when you need to drive today, I'll stand by with you just in case. I won't touch it unless you need me to." After all, if Sadness needed to drive, Riley needed to feel sad. Joy couldn't mess with that. But she still wanted her to feel confident when driving. "And I'll talk to them for you, okay?" She then reached out with a hand, to help Sadness up. "Come on, we've got work to do!" And she gave her her best joyous smile.

Sadness thought for a moment, then turned to Joy, nodded slowly, and, taking her hand, rose to her feet. Then she quickly pulled her hand away for a moment, fumbling with her thumbs before wiping her eyes a little and giving her... well, not much of a smile. More of a neutral expression. "Okay. Let's do this."

"'Atta girl."

**Author's Note:**

> I'm still planning on a drabbles/one-shot collection, and it'll all be post-movie, so look forward to that. The AU stuff will also come fairly soon as well, and I plan to bounce between AU and in-universe stuff as evenly as I can to keep the ideas fresh in my mind.
> 
> (And yes, for those of you wondering, those one-shots/drabbles will indeed have Joyness in them at times. I am definitely on board that ship, as this and my earlier 2-part story demonstrate!


End file.
